What if...

Peter's Revenge

*Loki's POV*

It felt so nice to have Peter in my arms again. This past week has been rough, I am a god, I'm not accustomed to scavenging leftover food and freezing nights on an apartment building roof. After a short while I could feel Peter's tears begin to soak my shirt, he pulled away, his hose red and eyes puffy from crying, and said "Loki, when was the last time you showered?" His comment, while humorous, did puncture my pride a little, as royal hygiene had always been of the upmost importance, so I replied "Haha very funny Peter." With that I pulled away to smell myself, and Peter was right I smelled quite ripe. "So Mr. Comedian, may I use your shower to freshen up?" Peter looked at me dead serious and said "No." This hostility took me by surprise considering he was still inches away from me, then he continued "You can however use OUR shower." I smiled, grabbed my bag and hoped on. His swinging was a little rusty, but we made it down to our window all the same. I've missed riding Peter up and down, it's so much easier than the elevator or stairs, also it was way more fun.

After I finished showering it was about dinner time. It was the first time I'd seen May since I saw her crumpled on the floor next to Ben, and the state she was in absolutely crushed me. I wanted nothing more than to trade places with Ben in that moment, for her sanity and mine. The bags under her eyes were huge, either from crying or lack of sleep, probably both. May's hair was a mess from not being brushed in a couple of days, yet she wore a usual dress that seemed to undermine all us the above, like it was just any other day. I think the worst part though was what she said when she saw me, "Oh, Loki are you and Ben back from the store already?!" The smile and the look in her eyes told me that she was in a complete state of denial and that she truly believed what she was saying. She looked over my shoulder towards the door and asked "Where is he?". I looked to Peter as my heart shattered into a million more pieces. He looked at his aunt with broken eyes and a defeated look, almost like he was going to break down into tears himself. "Umm, May, do you remember what happened a week ago?" I said very tentatively. Peter head shot in my direction so quick I was shocked he didn't break his neck, the most menacing look came from his eyes of pure hatred. I never thought such a look could come from sweet Peter, but a lot has changed within the week. "No dear, what happened, are you alright?" she responded to me in a motherly tone, a concerned look crossing her face as she reached out and gently set her hand on my shoulder. I pulled all my strength, and fought back the tears as I very softly told her "No May, don't you remember? Ben died." The moment I said it, it was as if everything hit her at once, realization, memory, the truth. She dropped to the ground before Peter and I could catch her and immediately started sobbing and exclaimed "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry boys. I was hoping it would all be a dream but it's not, he's really gone!" Peter and I sat on the floor hugging May for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally once the sobbing had stopped and her body lay still, Peter and I picked her up and brought her to the table. May sat there, a blank expression on her face, food untouched as Peter and I tried to hold ourselves together. To see May in such a state made me squirm and want anything but to be here helpless to cheer her up. But still we ate our food slowly and tried to start conversations with May, although none took. After dinner we walked May to her bedroom and helped her into bed for the night. Peter was being really quiet but the moment I closed the door to our bedroom behind me he said, "You didn't have to tell her." "It killed me to tell her but Peter it would have been worse if we had waited any longer." I explained. Peter nodded his head in understanding before saying "Loki, I want you to know that it wasn't your fault no matter what happened or what idiotic things I said, it wasn't your fault there was nothing you could do to change it." "You were hurt Peter, and angry, you had every right to be mad at me. It's good that you've let your anger go, now we can move on. One day at a time." I responded, my usual sarcastic tone gone for once. I knew the grips of hatred all to well, and I knew letting it go was one of the first steps to healing, but when Peter looked to me with the same fury in his eyes he said "Not at all, I just want to punish the person who's fault it actually is, Odin!" I jumped up, the darkness that had come to consume Peter this past week terrified me, and it made me fear I had lost the sweet caring boy I had once known. "No! Peter, you're missing the point. Your pain and anger clouds your judgement. Revenge isn't the answer, and you can't just go after Odin, he is the king of Asgard. He is way too powerful, trying to exact revenge on him would only get you killed."

Peter squared up to me anger blaring in his eyes as he shouted "YOU CAN'T TELL ME NOT TO GO AFTER THE MAN THAT MURDERED MY UNCLE, LOKI. THIS ISN'T REVENGE IT JUSTICE." "Is it justice Peter? So you just want to find a murderer, and send him to prison, not hold a personal vendetta, or kill him." I responded as calmly as I could. "He doesn't deserve a prison, he deserves to die, and besides there is no prison that could even hold him." Peter exclaimed, still extremely angry. "Watch your mouth, that's my father you're talking about!" I said astonished that I was actually defending him after all he'd done to me. I continued on regaining my cool. "Odin is a man of many things, a terribly cruel man, but does he really deserve to die? Is that true justice? Come on Peter you can't say something like 'he deserves to die' and call it justice. Also if you ever took a second and cared to ask me I would've told you that there is a prison that could hold Odin, the only problem is that it's on Asgard." "There's a prison that can hold Odin?" Peter sounded almost excited when he said that. "Yes Peter there is, but neither you nor I will be caught dead stepping foot there, until you learn to let it go Peter. You can't just carry around all this hatred and anger, you have to allow yourself to heal. Peter you have to forgive, but never NEVER forget. Can you do that for me... please?" I seemed to have gotten through to him because at that moment this new cold Peter melted and all I saw was the sweet boy who hit me with his car. He collapsed into me, for the second time today, and I could feel his muscles relax as he gave in and said "Yes Loki, I think I can do that" with his sweet caring voice back, I knew I had my Peter back.